During this visit, you should work with one or more groups of students if you haven't already, and observe your teacher doing the same. For this journal entry, describe your teacher's teaching style. What type of relationships with students does he or she nurture in his or her classes? How do students perceive that power is distributed in the classes? Does this vary within or across the different classes the teacher has? Cite examples from your observations to support your inferences. Remember to reflect on what style of teaching you will gravitate toward and the how you want to be perceived by your students.
Observations:
During one of my visits students were working on graphing data in the computer lab. In this freshmen physics class my CT and I are joined by a resource teacher, due to the high amount of students with IEP's. In this particular class, my CT is friendly yet, much more structured when compared to his accelerated biology classes. He maintains a friend-like relationship with most of his students, but in this class he is sure to be more "teacher-like" because the students require the added rigidity to keep them on task. The entire period myself and the other teachers in the room were busy helping students with graphing dilemmas. Students in this class are definitely not afraid to ask questions, and require a bigger push, and overseeing effort than the bio classes. My CT has a very laid back attitude with the biology classes he teaches, this is partly due to the nature of the classes. His accelerated students are overly concerned about their grades, and will stay on task without much reminding. When working in groups these classes are normally very proactive, and will ask questions only when completely necessary. My CT will circulate around the room, and have to ask what the groups are doing in order to see what progress is being made.
Reflections:
I find that it is more valuable to have a flexible teaching style, such as my CT, than having a defined style. It becomes important to adjust whatever your ideal teaching style is to the needs of individual classes, even individual students. I do believe, especially at a high school level, that students want to be your "friend". It is important to maintain these friendly relationships and form connections with students, while inside the school setting. When teachers and students have these attitudes toward each other it indicates mutual respect, induces a laid back, low stress atmosphere, and allows students to feel as though they have an adult they can talk to inside the school building. My CT's classroom is always the center of attention in-between classes, where students will pop in before the bell to say hi. Seeing your teacher during unstructured times, not just in class, helps to maintain a positive relationship.
Class Topic: Data analysis
Grade: 9/10
Observed by: Sarah Jakob
During this visit, you should work with one or more groups of students if you haven't already, and observe your teacher doing the same. For this journal entry, describe your teacher's teaching style. What type of relationships with students does he or she nurture in his or her classes? How do students perceive that power is distributed in the classes? Does this vary within or across the different classes the teacher has? Cite examples from your observations to support your inferences. Remember to reflect on what style of teaching you will gravitate toward and the how you want to be perceived by your students.
Observations:
During one of my visits students were working on graphing data in the computer lab. In this freshmen physics class my CT and I are joined by a resource teacher, due to the high amount of students with IEP's. In this particular class, my CT is friendly yet, much more structured when compared to his accelerated biology classes. He maintains a friend-like relationship with most of his students, but in this class he is sure to be more "teacher-like" because the students require the added rigidity to keep them on task. The entire period myself and the other teachers in the room were busy helping students with graphing dilemmas. Students in this class are definitely not afraid to ask questions, and require a bigger push, and overseeing effort than the bio classes. My CT has a very laid back attitude with the biology classes he teaches, this is partly due to the nature of the classes. His accelerated students are overly concerned about their grades, and will stay on task without much reminding. When working in groups these classes are normally very proactive, and will ask questions only when completely necessary. My CT will circulate around the room, and have to ask what the groups are doing in order to see what progress is being made.Reflections:
I find that it is more valuable to have a flexible teaching style, such as my CT, than having a defined style. It becomes important to adjust whatever your ideal teaching style is to the needs of individual classes, even individual students. I do believe, especially at a high school level, that students want to be your "friend". It is important to maintain these friendly relationships and form connections with students, while inside the school setting. When teachers and students have these attitudes toward each other it indicates mutual respect, induces a laid back, low stress atmosphere, and allows students to feel as though they have an adult they can talk to inside the school building. My CT's classroom is always the center of attention in-between classes, where students will pop in before the bell to say hi. Seeing your teacher during unstructured times, not just in class, helps to maintain a positive relationship.Class Topic: Data analysis
Grade: 9/10
Observed by: Sarah Jakob